"Cognitive scripts" is the term used for the themes that flow habitually through our thoughts. These cognitive scripts can influence both our emotions and our behavior. They have been described as the tapes we play repeatedly in our heads -- those things we tell ourselves over and over again, often without conscious awareness. Some examples of cognitive scripts: I can't do anything right, this is too hard, no point trying; or I can do anything I set my mind to, it will get easier once I get started, I can do this. In the 3-S program, harmful cognitive scripts will be abandoned, and new ones consistent with your Spiritual path will be developed and rehearsed.
For Katherine Hanson, Cognitive script theory refers to hypothesized knowledge structures that outline how everyday events unfold. Roger C. Shank and Robert Abelson's early work on script theory explores how these mental structures organize knowledge and inform our understanding of the world. Most media research on cognitive scripts has applied L. Rowell Huesmann's information processing model to explain how television content can influence children's behavior. Shank and Abelson define cognitive scripts as related sequences of actions that characterize frequently experienced events and, in turn, guide expectations and behaviors in everyday situations. The recurring experience of a particular event creates an internalized “template” of the likely sequence of actions, participants, and props within that situation. A restaurant script, for example, contains a basic series of events that typically occur in a restaurant (ordering food, eating a meal, receiving a check, and paying a bill).
For R. Shank ,the central focus of Schank's theory has been the structure of knowledge, especially in the context of language understanding. Schank (1975) outlined contextual dependency theory which deals with the representation of meaning in sentences. Building upon this framework, Schank & Abelson (1977) introduced the concepts of scripts, plans and themes to handle story-level understanding. Later work (e.g., Schank, 1982,1986) elaborated the theory to encompass other aspects of cognition.
The key element of conceptual dependency theory is the idea that all conceptualizations can be represented in terms of a small number of primative acts performed by an actor on an object. For example, the concept, "John read a book" could be represented as: John MTRANS (information) to LTM from book, where MTRANS is the primative act of mental transfer. In Schank's theory, all memory is episodic, i.e., organized around personal experiences rather than semantic categories. Generalized episodes are called scripts -- specific memories are stored as pointers to scripts plus any unique events for a particular episode. Scripts allow individuals to make inferences needed for understanding by filling in missing information (i.e., schema).
Schank (1986) uses script theory as the basis for a dynamic model of memory. This model suggests that events are understood in terms of scripts, plans and other knowledges structures as well as relevant previous experiences. An important aspect of dynamic memory are explanatory processes (XPs) that represent sterotyped answers to events that involve analomies or unusual events. Schank proposes that XPs are a critical mechanism of creativity .
Application
Script theory is primarily intended to explain language processing and higher thinking skills. A variety of computer programs have been developed to demonstrate the theory. Schank (1991) applies his theoretical framework to story telling and the development of intelligent tutors. Shank & Cleary (1995) describe the application of these ideas to educational software.
